Sidebar

Flow Free: Bridges is a completely random smartphone game that I first became aware of because I saw a girl playing it on the subway and it looked like my kind of game. It's a free download, and apparently was first released as Flow Free on all the usual outlets (i.e. Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes). The version I played is also free, but is an expansion called Flow Free: Bridges, and is also available on Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes.

As with most games of this genre, Flow Free: Bridges is very simple to pick up and play. The board consists of pairs of dots and your task is to connect them together without any of the paths overlapping. Flow Free: Bridges includes an extra wrinkle, which is in the form of bridges which can have a stream of color go through the bridge, as well as underneath it.

The game's simple but clean presentation is inviting, and the game held my attention for just about as long as a long subway ride. The game increases the difficulty by increasing the size of the board, although the puzzles using the smallest board size (5x5) are mind-numbingly easy. Although it's quite satisfying to complete a puzzle, especially the larger ones, the novelty wore off quickly. As with other puzzle games, like Picross and Snapdots, every puzzle in Flow Free: Bridges works exactly the same way, and so after you master the mechanics there are no surprises or much brain power involved. Picross and Snapdots at least had the benefit of a colorful presentation and each puzzle reveals a different image, but all the puzzles in Flow Free: Bridges look the same and I felt no motivation to complete very many of each difficulty level, i.e. board size. Puzzle games in general tend to be the equivalent of mental chewing gum, but without more variety, surprises, and a more-interesting presentation, this was a game that I ended up putting down almost as quickly as I picked it up. It seems like these mega popular free smartphone games are as disposable as I'd expected.